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Monday, August 27, 2012

A possible learning resource . . .

In case it
escaped your attention, this is World Water Week. Why blog about this? Much of our curriculum is focused on water
with Lake Wilderness, Cedar River, and the Puget Sound providing on site
opportunities for our young people to focus on this critical resource. I also believe that as the world’s population
continues to increase making it more and more difficult to feed and water all
of us; this resource will be at the heart of future world conflicts. To head this possibility off we need to equip
today’s students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to find adaptive
solutions to this growing problem.

The focus of
the event is on achieving food security for the world’s population. Even with increased production and a United
Nations goal to decrease by 2015 the number of hungry from 840 million to 240
million, by 2012 the actual number has grown to about one billion. This despite production increases during this
same period.

“food security exists when all people at all times, have physical
and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.

Since 70% of all water withdrawals in the world are used in
agricultural production, water is one of the large variables in the search to
change the trend and see more people in a state of food security. Another large variable in this issue is
energy consumption. We can only hope
that those involved with Water Week are more productive than those attempting
to change energy consumption across the world.
This report and this conference are good sources of content for engaging
young people in issues that directly impact them today and in the future. They also demand the use of Habits of Mind
and thinking skills to examine this complex issue and reinforce the need for
our Outcomes and Indicators as they research and identify adaptive structures
and regulations to change the trend.